Soccer 100

A celebration of the beautiful game and its 100 greatest players, from the preWorld War II exploits of Dixie Dean to the modern-day genius of Kylian Mbapp and Lionel MessiThese players left legacies, redefined the game with trademark skills, and grew into national icons. They have their statsthe goals, the wins, the trophiesbut, more importantly, they have their stories. One World Cup winner owned a nightclub that briefly transformed a corner of industrial Germany into one of the hippest places around. An Austrian forwards death is still shrouded in mystery. A striker who might have become a telephone technician had he not been spotted playing soccer was eventually elected president of his country. And there are unanswered questions. How did Pels Brazil shirt from the 1958 World Cup quarterfinal go missing in a Welsh school? Which goalkeeper was so good that one opponent considered scoring against him akin to winning a trophy?Through extensive research and interviews, The Athletic soccer staff, led by Oliver Kay and James Horncastle, discovered angles and tales that shine a new light on the sports most compelling characters.They faced an impossible riddle, too: Of the thousands of players to hit the pitch, who is the best? Their efforts to find the answer took the foremost sports newsroom on a journey, and what emerges is more than a ranking. Through all-new, vivid portraits of each athlete, The Soccer 100 is a tribute to the greatest players to have ever graced the most popular sport on the planet.